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Select a subgroup characteristic from the drop-down menu below to view relevant text and figures.
1 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of the National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
2 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of the National Target Population.
3 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
4 Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates.
5 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by PIRLS average scale score. Italics indicate participants identified as a non-national entity that represents a portion of a country. The PIRLS scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000, with the scale centerpoint set at 500 and the standard deviation set at 100. Education systems that did not administer PIRLS at the target grade are not shown. For more information about individual countries and assessment methodology, please see Methods and Procedures in PIRLS 2016 (https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/publications/pirls/2016-methods.html).
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), 2016. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 602.10.
Low or below
Advanced
* p < .05. Significantly different from the U.S. percentage.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of the National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
2 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of the National Target Population.
3 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
4 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population.
5 Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by the percentage of students reaching the Advanced international benchmark. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data. The PIRLS scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. PIRLS describes achievement at four international benchmarks along the reading achievement scale: Low (400), Intermediate (475), High (550), and Advanced (625). The score cut-points were selected to be as close as possible to the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles. Each successive point, or benchmark, is associated with the knowledge and skills that students successfully demonstrate at each level. Italics indicate participants identified as a non-national entity that represents a portion of a country. Education systems that did not administer PIRLS at the target grade are not shown. For more information about individual countries and assessment methodology, please see Methods and Procedures in PIRLS 2016 (https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/publications/pirls/2016-methods.html).
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), 2016. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 602.10.
1 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of the National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
2 Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates.
3 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
4 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population.
5 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of the National Target Population.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by ePIRLS average scale score. Italics indicate participants identified as a non-national entity that represents a portion of a country. The ePIRLS scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000, with the scale centerpoint set at 500 and the standard deviation set at 100. For more information about individual countries and assessment methodology, please see Methods and Procedures in PIRLS 2016 (https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/publications/pirls/2016-methods.html).
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), 2016. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 602.15.
Low or below
Advanced
* p < .05. Significantly different from the U.S. percentage.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of the National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
2 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
3 Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates.
4 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population.
5 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of the National Target Population.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by the percentage of students reaching the Advanced international benchmark. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data. The ePIRLS scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. ePIRLS describes achievement at four international benchmarks along the reading achievement scale: Low (400), Intermediate (475), High (550), and Advanced (625). The score cut-points were selected to be as close as possible to the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles. Each successive point, or benchmark, is associated with the knowledge and skills that students successfully demonstrate at each level. Italics indicate participants identified as a non-national entity that represents a portion of a country. For more information about individual countries and assessment methodology, please see Methods and Procedures in PIRLS 2016 (https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/publications/pirls/2016-methods.html).
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), 2016. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 602.15.
1 The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses mathematics and science knowledge and skills at grades 4 and 8. For more information on TIMSS, see indicator International Comparisons: Mathematics and Science Achievement at Grades 4 and 8.
2 PIRLS was administered in 61 education systems. However, three education systems did not administer PIRLS at the target grade and are not included in this indicator.
3 The IEA differentiates between IEA members, referred to always as “countries,” and “benchmarking participants.” IEA member countries include both “countries,” which are complete, independent political entities, and “other education systems,” or non-national entities (e.g., England, the Flemish community of Belgium). Non-national entities that are not IEA member countries (e.g., Abu Dhabi [United Arab Emirates], Ontario [Canada]) are designated as “benchmarking participants.” These benchmarking systems are able to participate in PIRLS even though they may not be members of the IEA. For convenience, the generic term “education systems” is used when summarizing across results.
4 PIRLS and ePIRLS scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000, with the scale centerpoint set at 500 and the standard deviation set at 100. The scale centerpoint represents the mean of the overall PIRLS achievement distribution in 2001. The PIRLS scale is the same in each administration; thus a value of 500 in 2016 equals 500 in 2001.
Preprimary Education
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